Healey's lead gets lift when Xavier, Louisville win

Team Honda faced a 43-point deficit when play began yesterday. By the time the night was over, the deficit was 71.

Kevin Gleason

Team Honda faced a 43-point deficit when play began yesterday. By the time the night was over, the deficit was 71.

Honda officially has reached a crisis point in The Office Pool.

Its problems began early last night. Everybody picked North Carolina to win. So Honda would have to slice its deficit in the Xavier-West Virginia game.

But there was one problem for Honda. One very big problem.

Five Healey players and only three Honda players picked Xavier to win. As luck would have it for Honda, Xavier looked cooked early in overtime before coming back to win 79-75.

With each Sweet 16 win worth four points, Healey's lead mushroomed to 51 entering the late games.

Then it got worse.

A Tennessee win and Honda would have cut Healey's lead to 39. But the ball hasn't been bouncing Honda's way lately.

Louisville knocked off the Vols, adding another 20 points to Healey's lead.

And now Team Healey holds its biggest lead of the tournament: 71 points.

Seventy-one points.

You have heard from the leaders. You have heard from the trash-talkers. Today you get to hear from a few of the unsung heroes of The Office Pool. Give major props to three Healey players who picked all four winners last night: John Koerner, Jack La Tour and Brad Warren.

Koerner's best known, at least in Office Pool circles, for becoming the team spokesman when Honda talked a little smack early in the tournament.

Warren, a husband and father of a 1-year-old son — future "Diaper Dandy'' as he puts it — is director of technology. And La Tour, Healey's director of operations, is in the hunt to win the individual title.

Things got a little crazy at tournament central last night when a computer glitch messed up the online scoring. It will be fixed as soon as possible.

The newspaper scores are correct.

There's a discrepancy in the scores but no disagreement in the main issue at hand: Honda faces a long climb to the title.